Good Friday gardening

What a gorgeous start to the Easter weekend! It was so good to be out in the sunshine and fresh air at last. I have 5 whole days off work and am really hoping the weather lasts. If not, well it won't be the end of the world and I'll catch up with some crafting and spring cleaning instead.

Other than years when Easter falls early, this is traditionally when I start planting seeds. In fact, looking back at my archive, I posted about seed planting last year on 20 April and with a very similar photo! At least I'm consistent! I've been very disorganised this year though and haven't really planned what I'm going to grow.

However, I always grow carrots and courgettes so I pulled them out of my seed stash and dragged the bags of compost from the shed. I don't have much growing space so I grow these in large pots. It was a bit of a surprise to find I only had one courgette seed left so I'm keeping everything crossed that it's as reliable as the others have been.

I also planted up my new clematis which was one of the special buys at Aldi this week, as was the obelisk. I couldn't resist the heart and birds!

This is the clematis though the flower is more purple than it's photographed.

My other clematis are growing strongly and were already taller than the fence. I had to prise the stems apart to spread them out on the netting. I think this one is a pale purple.

Another recent Aldi buy is this butterfly. So pretty and shiny for now, until the good old British weather has had its way.

One thing that's definitely different to last year is my cherry. We'd had a long, cold spring and the cherry was still in bud last April. This week the warmth and sunshine has brought it into full bloom. So so beautiful against that bright blue sky.

I didn't quite finish all my jobs in the garden and need to buy more compost. Tomorrow though we're heading to Tatton Park. Hope you're enjoying your Easter weekend. Back soon. x